Sheet-feeding machine.



,N s54,ov9. PATENTBD MAY 21, 1907 P. L. (moss.

SHEET FEEDING MACHINE.

- APBLIOATION IILED JULY 31, 1905.

supply ta UNITED STA ES.

PATENT OFFICE FRANK L.I CROSS, OF MYSTIC, eoaikiiicncm ASSIGNOR To CROSS PAPER.

FEEDER COMPANY, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A-CORPORATION or MAINE. a I

SHEET-FEEDING MACHINE- No. 854,079. Specification of Letters Patent. I

Application filed July 31, 1905. Serial No, 271,904-

1 ,V .7. s a

To all whom it may concern: I 1

Be it known that I, FRANK L. Onoss, 'a citi zen of the United States, and-a resident of Mystic, Connecticut, county of New London,

ing sheets to printing presses or other ma- 'chlnes, and more especially to the construc tion and arrangement of the frame for su orting and carrying the various parts of t e ceding mechanism and to the devices for raising and lowering the suppl table upon which the sheets. are laced by t 1e 0 erator.

I have embodied t efeatures of t e'invention in a feeding mechanism ofthat class known as continuous feeders in which a bank of feathered or fanned out sheets are iled upon a supply table and are transferred 0111 this suppl T table-to a feed board where the front end of the ,pile is acted u on by devices whichseparate and deliver t e individual sheets. In this type of machine the separating and delivering devices are arrangeddesirable to raise thes'upply" table out of the Way-in order to give convenient access-to; the parts below the table. Certain features of the invention relate to-devices for conve'n-* iently and quickl raising and lowering the in t e usual manner.v The supply table is thus raised and lowered by means 'of oneor more sup orting arms pivoted below the hle and having their supporting ends so connected with the su'ppl table that the may be moved longitudina y along the 1 tab e, thus swingingcthe arms about their pivots and either raising or lpwering' thetable according as the arms are moved toward'o'r position at right angles to 'the away from a v ta'ble.- 'Wh'en-jj thef table is at either limit of its movementfthe arm or arms stand in an inclined positidiii and stops-are provided for supply table whic is pivoted at its front-end Patented May 21,1907;

porting arms and arranged to engage and travel along corresponding rackssecured to 1 the supply table.

Feeding mechanisms of the character above referred to are usually mounted and carried in a frameada ted to be applied to the usual feed board 0 a printing press and,

this frame is usually formed in sections that the front'sectionor sections may ;be

folded and swung up out of the way when it is desired to use the feed board ofthe press for feedin sheets by hand. 'When the frame is thus fo ded for the purpose of using'thefeed board of the press, the front end of the rear section. frame remains in position upon" the feed board and as this portion of the frame frequently occupies a position at some distance forward of the rear end of thefeed board, it prevents the roper arrangement of large sheets upon the cod board andithus-re l duces the capacity of the 'ress.. In order to overcome this objectiona le feature ofthis' class of feeding mechanism and at the same time enable the locatiorrof the feeding and sefparating devices at a convenient and most e ective position with relation to-thG. front end of the feed board during the use 'of the automatic feeding mechanism,-I have profiflq;

vided devicesfor withdrawing the rear-sec tion of the frame and the front folded'sece tions carriedtherebyto aposition where the front end of the rear scctlon restsu 'onthe rear end of the feed board, thus enablin case the press is to be used with a hand feed. 5 .The various featuresfof the invention will vbe understood from the -followi1igdetailed'1 description of the mechanism in "which I p haveembodiedthein'and-will be pointed out inthe-claims. This 'rnechanism inwhich I have embodied the features of invention is" shown in the accompanying drawings, in

eed-

srthe s I feed board to receive the largestj-sheets in .ing rnec as is"ne'ce ssary to'afull un 'derstanding of the features of improvement;

2 is a sectionaljdetail on line w'ac"Fi'g. 1; rep and Fig. 3 isxasectional detail on line limitin themovement of. the arm"or arms with re ation' to the table'and thus maintain-Q ing the tableinits adjusted osition, 'Ihe means'which I. prefer to emp 0y for'moving the sup -orting ends of the'arms longitudinally, of the table, consists of one or frnore pinions secured to a shaft carried in the sup-- 5o 1. I I i n the construction shown in the drawings; XA indicates the cylinder of a cylinder print ng? 1 the frame is made up of side plates 0 consheets from the bank. The details of these mechanisms are not material to the present invention and are not herein illustrated.

press and B the usual feed board for the press upon which the sheets are placed when the machine is being fed by hand; I

The various parts of the feeding mechani s'm for separating and feeding the sheets automatically to the press are carried andsupported in a frame adapted to be applied to the feed board B. This frame as shown 1n the drawings consists of a rear section C, and

two front sections D E. The rear section of nected by means of connecting bars the sideplates on opposite sides of. the frame being properly connected by cross rods in the usual manner] The side plates 0 support the front end of the supply table F, the rear end of'the feed table G, the feeding drum H,

and the devices which cooperate with the drum in feeding the bank of sheets from the upper supply table to the feed table G,

These devices may be of the usual and well known constructlon and arenot herein lllustrated as they form no vention. I

The side plates 0 of therear section support the various devices and mechanisms for separating the sheets from the feathered bank on the feed table G and delivering .the

part of the present inaboutthe pivot d and retained in'its lifted position by means of hooks D mounted on opposite sides of the supply table F and adapted to: engage the pivotrod e of the frame sec tions;

The side plates c at the front of the. rear,

section rest upon the feedhoard B, while v the rear of the rearsection is 'su ported upon the rear support consisting 9 ards I"arrangedbeneathjthe hars q? and connected with the press frame by brace rods I;

'In order that the frametif" the feed mech-- anism may bewithdrawn to the rear end of the feed board B wherifijh ie'sheets are tobe fed to the press by hand;"-and'thus enable the pro er positioning of large sheets upon the ,"fee 'board, I haveprovidedfthebars c with racks J arranged to engage-pinions J secured to. a shaft J which is journaled in the upper ends-of the standards I forming the support for the rear end ofthe rear section of-the jstiandframe. The shaft J" is also provided with collars J upon whichthe bars c rest and. over which they travel as the frame is withdrawn or advanced by the rotation of the shaft J ,The shaft J maybe convenientlyrotated to withdraw or advance the rear section by means of a crank handle J attached to the end of the shaft J By this mechanism the rear section and the folded front sections carried thereby may be readily and conveniently withdrawn to 'ive free-access to substantially all of the fee( board B when thefeeding mechanism is out of use and may be readily returned to proper position with relation to the front gages of the printing press when the feeding mechanism is to be used.

- The supply table F is pivoted at to the i side lates c in the usual manner so" that it may e swung up when desired to give access to the mechanism under'tlie supply table.

When in normal position the supply table is supported by means of two arms K arranged at opposite sides of the supply table and pivoted at K to the side plates '0. The upper ends of the arms K are connected by means of a shaft K which is mounted in bearings in the upper ends of the arms. This I shaft plays. in slots Kformed in plates K which are secured to theunder side of the supply table F. When the supply table is in its normal position the-shoulder K formed by the rear. end of the slot K? enga es the v shaft K? and limits the movement of t e arm K longitudinally'of the table so that the table is firmly, supported upon the pivoted arms K.

When the table F is to-beraised the Shaft K at the upper ends of-the armsK is caused to travel along the slots K thus-swinging the armsK toward a position at right angles'to' the table F and consequently raising the table. When the arms K pass the osition perpendicular to the table F the sha t K engages the ends K of the slots K which then' i form stops for limiting the movement of the 1 arms K under the weight of the table so that the table is firmly supported in this position. The -means for causing the shaft 'K". to

travelbackward or forward along theslots K consists of two racks K secured to the [under side of the table F and two pinions K secured to'the shaft K and arranged to engage the racks. The shaft K may be conveniently revolved to cause the pinions to travel along the racks K by means of a crank arm K connected to the end of the shaft K3.

While I prefer to employ two arms, two

racks and cooperating pinions, it will be understood that the number of arms, or the number of racks and pinions may'be varied as desired and as best suits the conditions under which the mechanism is to be used. The same is true .with relation to the devices r on the shaft engaging the racks.

.front sections connected withxthe rear sec-.

for Withdrawing and advancing the frame, and it will be further understood that various modifications and changes in the details of construction and arrangement "may be .made without departing from the essential features of the invention. 1 1 Without attempting to specifically describe the various forms and modifications of .mechamsm in which the features of invention may be embodied, what desire to claim 1. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a pivoted supply table, of racks secured to thetable, arms pivoted below the a table, av shaft mounted. in said'arms, guide- Ways on said tablefor said shaft, and pinions 2. A: sheet-feeding. mechanism combination, a supporting frame provided with a rear section adapted to rest on the feed board of 'apress, one or more folding front. sections, a rear su-p ort for the rear section, and devices for 'wit drawing' and advancing the supporting'frame.

3. A sheet feeding mechanism having'in combination, a supporting frameprovided with a rear section adapted to rest on the feed board of a press, one or more folding tion, a rear supportfor the rear section, a

shaft mounted in the rear support, and connections between the shaft and rear section for withdrawing and advancing the frame by the rotation of the shaft. 4. In a sheet feedingmechanism the combination withapivoted supply table, of an arm pivoted below the table, a rotatable pinion mounted in the arm and a rack on the table engagled by the pinion. 5,. n a sheet feeding mechanism the com bination with a pivoted supply table, of racks secured to the table, arms pivoted below the having in table,a shaft ,journaled' in said arms, pinions on said shaft engaging said racks, andstops for determining the travel of the pinions.

l 6. In a sheet feeding machine the combi nation with a feed table of a supply *table end of the feed table, one or more supporting arms pivoted below the supply table and manually operated mechanism for swinging said arms to raise and lower the supply table.

.having its front end pivoted above the rear 7 7. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a feed table of a supply table pivoted above the feed tablegone or more supporting arms pivoted. below the supply ta le, andstops on-the supply table for the arms arranged to lie on opposite sides of the vertical plane through the pivotal axis of the arms when engaged by the arms.

8. In a sheet feeding mechanism the com- I bination with a feed table of a supply table pivoted above the feed table, one or more supporting arms pivoted below the supply table, and devices mounted on the supply ta ble and upper endof-the arms for moving the ends of the arms longitudinally along the table to-raise andlower the same.

9. A sheet feeding mechanism having-in combination, a supporting frame provided with a rear section adapted to rest on the feed board of a press, one or more folding front sections, a rearsupport forthe rear sec- I tion, a'shaft mounted in said support, one or more racks on the rearsection, and one or more pinions on the shaft engaging said racks to withdraw and advance the frame by rota 

